J.A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of both the J. P. Beaumont series and the Joanna Brady Series. She has written 40 novels and she has more than 10 million copies of her books in print. Visit her Web site: JAJance.com.

The Snowbird Migration Take 1

Eagle has landed. In Tucson. After four days of mostly driving south–away from the rain, as it turns out, and into the sun. As in ninety degrees.

The trip itself was a mixed bag. As we were leaving Seattle, driving south on I-5, just past I-90, a rock thrown up by a northbound truck nailed our windshield, and we spent the remainder of the week watching the initial pock mark grow inexorably into a foot-long crack. This afternoon, Friday, the windshield has been repaired.

The sun came out just as we left Ashland, and it’s been shining ever since. Once inside the California border, we saw a pair of cowboys on horseback working a herd of cattle. Farther down the road, in America’s breadbasket, we saw massive machines–most likely guided by GPS systems–harvesting fields. The old agriculture and the new agriculture at work in the same state on the same day.

We stopped off in LA for one day for a book cover photo shoot for next summer’s book. The code word here is long lead time. I’m not a big fan of having my photo taken. The one that accompanies this blog is from ten years ago, so it was time for a change. The photos from this week will be on the books that come from HarperCollins.

On Thursday we had lunch in Palm Springs with Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, the UMC bishop for Southern California. She and her husband, Jeff, were incredibly kind to me during a very rough time in my life back in the mid-seventies. People who have read my books may recognize those two as the real life models for my fictional characters, Pastor Marianne Maculyea and her husband Jeff Daniels who are good friends of my Arizona sleuth, Joanna Brady.

It’s amazing to realize that our friendship dates back more than thirty years now. Mary Ann, the real one, came to Tucson and performed the ceremony for my daughter and son-in-law’s renewal of vows. She also came to the hospital and to hospice to visit with Jon and Jeanne T. and spoke movingly at his memorial service. When people say the words that a friendship is a blessing, I know it’s true. That’s how I feel about Jeff and Mary Ann.

So now we’re in Tucson. I came down ready to hit the golf courses. No dice. It’s October. They’re all being over-seeded. Who knew? I’ve never tried to play golf in Tucson in October before.

There’s no food in the house, but there’s plenty of coffee. (We’re from Seattle, after all.) We have the AC cranked up and working, and I’m ensconced in my favorite Tucson-based writing chair. So I guess I’d better get busy. It’s time to start working on the next Ali book. Not THIS year’s Ali book. Next year’s Ali book.